Tip Toe Through the Tulips

In 2006, I went with my parents to Descanso Gardens. It was around Easter and the tulip display was amazingly colorful. Jenny agreed to go with me to see if it had the same magic this year.

We drove over to Descanso on Saturday morning. I wanted to go early because (a) it is cooler, and (b) the light is softer. Cameras, especially digital cameras, can only record a limited range of light. When light is soft, there is less difference between light and dark, so the tonal range can be captured more completely. As the sun rises and the light gets harsher, the difference between light and dark is magnified and the photographer must choose which end of the spectrum will be faithfully preserved, and which will be sacrificed.



In my memory, tulips bloom in mid to late April. This may be true in some other part of the world, but in California, tulips seem to bloom in March. Being off by 3 weeks is not fatal; there are still tulips in bloom, but we have missed them at their prime.



Jenny and I walk the grounds, admiring a display about being eco-friendly (lawnmowers and leaf blowers are much worse than I would have guessed), the last gasps of the tulips, a koi pond with fish the size of my calf, the Fern Forrest (there is a nice bench for sitting), a large rock with 10 or so smaller rocks stacked on top of it, an art class making sketches at the Japanese Garden, and a plant sale (I almost got a hanging succulent for my apartment).

After the garden, we go back to Jenny’s house in time to meet up with her brother and his fiancée. We are a little early for lunch, so we play Rock Band while Jenny labors over her goal of a painting-a-day during the month of April.



I have played Rock Band before and I find it surprisingly fun. I rotate through the 4 instruments (guitar, base, drums, and vocals) to see if I have improved with the passage of time. I remain reliably competent at guitar and base (on easy) and questionable at best at the other two. By contrast, Jenny’s brother is a virtuoso, and with the right setup is able to sing and play guitar at the same time.



As an added bonus, Jenny and I take turns as band manager, taking pictures of the band.



By playing with the flash to bounce the light off walls and avoid harsh glare, I am impressed with the quality of some of the shots (when I first got a digital point-and-shoot camera, the rule of thumb seemed to be that anytime the flash went off, the picture was probably ruined.)



After rocking out all over Western Europe, we decided to go to lunch at Santoro’s, a local sandwich shop. Jenny had anticipated this trip and the collected coupons printed out on the back of Ralph’s register tape: $5 for any sandwich/any size, chips, and large drink (this is a remarkable deal since a small sandwich alone would be more than $5). The line snaked around inside the store.

I had pastrami and it was delicious. Jenny had also made a point that they serve really good ice with their drinks. This seemed strange until I tried it and she was right.

After lunch, we played some more Rock Band and then Jenny and I went to Costco for supplies. We were inspired to recreate the rosemary-bread-grilled-cheese-sandwiches that Jenny had earlier in the week. We also toyed with the idea of making fresh strawberry ice cream.

By the time we got home, time was not on our side for making ice cream, so we contented ourselves with the grilled cheese, some leftover tomato soup, and sliced strawberries, while watching the Darjeeling Limited starring Owen Wilson (it was good, but I’m surprised that it got 68% on Rotten Tomatoes).

It was a long day, but a great day. I’m glad I got to spend time with Jenny and got to know her family a little better. And now I know that tulips bloom in March, not April.



Gavin